The present invention relates to an apparatus for selectively displaying additional information relating to program information and to a method employed by the apparatus. More particularly, the invention relates to an apparatus and method for displaying information relating to program information and contained in a window which is located xe2x80x9cunderneathxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cbesidexe2x80x9d the program information and which can be selectively displayed. The present invention may be illustratively embodied in a cable television system in which a detailed description of a particular program is contained in a window that is located underneath or beside an actual broadcast program, a menu, or other type of screen displayed on a television and which can be exposed when a viewer inputs an appropriate command to the system.
Early developments in television technology have been made to enable television systems to combine two or more types of media (e.g. text, graphics, video, etc.) and display the combined media as a single composite picture. The composite picture generated by such systems may include the names of television announcers, news flashes, or emergency broadcast messages superimposed over a television broadcast program. An example of a typical composite picture 500 in which a television announcer""s name 502 and other related information 504 are superimposed upon a broadcast program 506 is shown in FIG. 7. More recent examples of forming a composite picture from two or more types of media include seemlessly blending animated text and graphics into a video program in order to present the illusion that human beings are interacting with cartoon characters.
Superimposing additional information on broadcast programs becomes significantly more difficult if the information needs to be combined with a live broadcast program. In such case, the additional information must be superimposed on the program in real-time so that the composite picture is generated as the live television program is being broadcast. In order to combine the various media in real-time, studio facilities have been created, and producers in such facilities have to closely monitor the live broadcast program and superimpose the additional information xe2x80x9con the flyxe2x80x9d to ensure that the information appropriately corresponds to the subject matter of the program currently being broadcast. However, creating a live composite broadcast program via the studio facilities is labor intensive and expensive.
The display of additional information becomes more complicated when the information is to be displayed only when it is requested by a user. Such information is customarily called information xe2x80x9con-demandxe2x80x9d. In this interactive case, the additional information is typically computer generated broadcast data that is synchronized with a corresponding video signal via a timer and is hidden from the user until it is requested. As a result, the information does not obscure or hide portions of the television screen when the user does not wish to view it.
An example of displaying information xe2x80x9con-demandxe2x80x9d may occur during a sports broadcast program. As the user is watching the sports program, he or she may press a button on a remote control to request the score of the televised sporting event to be displayed, even when the producer of the sports program has decided not to display it. When the button is pressed, a graphic overlay containing the score is superimposed over the sports program.
One of the problems that exists with displaying additional information xe2x80x9con-demandxe2x80x9d or as part of a composite broadcast picture is determining how to display the information on the screen together with the program. In the past, the additional information has been displayed in various manners.
For instance, the information may simply be provided in an opaque window 600 over the broadcast program 602 as shown in FIG. 8. However, overlaying the opaque window 600 upon the program 602 hides a portion of the program 602 and thus, is not aesthetically pleasing to the user. In order to attempt to overcome the above disadvantages, some systems have displayed the information in a transparent or semi-transparent window 700 that is overlaid upon the broadcast program 702 as shown in FIG. 9. However, displaying the additional information in such manner often creates visual conflicts between the additional information and the program 702 and is confusing to the user. Similarly, the additional information has been superimposed upon the program in a moving transparent window to give the illusion that information is displayed on a transparent xe2x80x9cticker tapexe2x80x9d. In such case, the information still conflicts with the broadcast program, and the movement of the information across the screen is distracting to the user.
In addition to the methods above, the additional information may be displayed as shown in FIG. 10. In the figure, the broadcast program 800 is compressed in size to occupy only a portion of the screen, and the remaining portions 802 of the screen are used to display the additional information. Although this display method has some advantages, the broadcast program 800 must be compressed to display the additional information, and thus, fine visual details which are intended to be displayed when the program is broadcast on the entire screen may not be perceivable by the user.
Accordingly, a need exists for a new method and apparatus for displaying additional information on a television which is aesthetically pleasing to the user.
In order to overcome the problems above, an object of the present invention is to provide a new method and apparatus for displaying additional information on a television which is aesthetically pleasing to the user.
To accomplish the above object, an apparatus for displaying a primary display and a window containing additional information is provided. The apparatus comprises a display device, a displaying means, and an exposing means. The display device has a screen, and the displaying means displays the primary display on the screen. The exposing means generates and displays the window containing the additional information on the screen such that the window is located underneath the primary display while the primary display is displayed on the screen and is exposed by removing the primary display from on top of the window.
To further accomplish the above object, a method for displaying a primary display and a window containing additional information is provided. In the method, a primary display is displayed on a screen of a display, and a window containing the additional information is generated. The window is displayed on the screen such that the window is located underneath the primary display while the primary display is displayed on the screen and is exposed by removing the primary display from on top of the window.